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Genesis 31 ... page 32
from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. “You
must come and sleep with me tonight!” she said.
“I have paid for you with some mandrakes that
my son found.” So that night he slept with Leah.
17And God answered Leah’s prayers. She became
pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for
Jacob. 18She named him Issachar, for she said,
“God has rewarded me for giving my servant to
my husband as a wife.” 19 Then Leah became
pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for
Jacob. 20She named him Zebulun, for she said,
“God has given me a good reward. Now my husband will treat me with respect, for I have given
him six sons.” 21Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and
answered her prayers by enabling her to have
children. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth
to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she
said. 24And she named him Joseph, for she said,
“May the Lord add yet another son to my family.”
Jacob’s Wealth Increases
25 Soon after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Ja-
cob said to Laban, “Please release me so I can go
home to my own country. 26Let me take my wives
and children, for I have earned them by serving
you, and let me be on my way. You certainly know
how hard I have worked for you.”
27 “Please listen to me,” Laban replied. “I have
become wealthy, for the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28Tell me how much I owe you.
Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”
29Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve
worked for you, and how your flocks and herds
have grown under my care. 30You had little indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The Lord has blessed you
through everything I’ve done. But now, what
about me? When can I start providing for my
own family?”
31“What wages do you want?” Laban asked
again.
Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just do
this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and
watch over your flocks. 32Let me inspect your
flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats
that are speckled or spotted, along with all the
black sheep. Give these to me as my wages. 33In
the future, when you check on the animals you
have given me as my wages, you’ll see that I have
been honest. If you find in my flock any goats
without speckles or spots, or any sheep that are
not black, you will know that I have stolen them
from you.”
34“All right,” Laban replied. “It will be as you
say.” 35 But that very day Laban went out and removed the male goats that were streaked and
spotted, all the female goats that were speckled
and spotted or had white patches, and all the
black sheep. He placed them in the care of his
own sons, 36who took them a three-days’ journey
from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed
and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.
37 Then Jacob took some fresh branches from
poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off
strips of bark, making white streaks on them.
38Then he placed these peeled branches in the
watering troughs where the flocks came to
drink, for that was where they mated. 39And
when they mated in front of the white-streaked
branches, they gave birth to young that were
streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40Jacob separated those lambs from Laban’s flock. And at
mating time he turned the flock to face Laban’s
animals that were streaked or black. This is how
he built his own flock instead of increasing
Laban’s.
41 Whenever the stronger females were ready
to mate, Jacob would place the peeled branches
in the watering troughs in front of them. Then
they would mate in front of the branches. 42But
he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the
weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob’s. 43As a result, Jacob became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and
goats, female and male servants, and many camels and donkeys.
CHAPTER
31
Jacob Flees from Laban
But Jacob soon learned that Laban’s sons were
grumbling about him. “Jacob has robbed our father of everything!” they said. “He has gained all
his wealth at our father’s expense.” 2And Jacob
began to notice a change in Laban’s attitude toward him.
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the
land of your father and grandfather and to your
relatives there, and I will be with you.”
4So Jacob called Rachel and Leah out to the
field where he was watching his flock. 5He said
to them, “I have noticed that your father’s attitude toward me has changed. But the God of my
father has been with me. 6You know how hard I
have worked for your father, 7but he has cheated
me, changing my wages ten times. But God has
not allowed him to do me any harm. 8For if he
said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wages,’
the whole flock began to produce speckled
